Biography

Originally trained as a chef, Pierre received his Culinary Arts and Food Service Management degrees from Johnson & Wales University.  After graduating, he spent a few years working as a chef in Providence and then moved to Utah where he worked for the Sundance Ranch, home of the Sundance Film Festival.  After Utah, he moved to Georgia to further build his culinary repertoire as Chef de Cuisine for the vegetarian restaurant, Café Sunflower.  He then returned to Rhode Island, where he continued to work in local restaurants and in the early 2000’s transitioned to a catering company in Newport.  After several years there he was inspired to apply for a position at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD).

 During his 15 years at RISD Pierre held several roles in Dining Services, starting as the Assistant Director for Catering, then getting promoted to Executive Chef and finally Associate Director for the department.  During his tenure there he was able to develop the culinary standing of the school, work with various constituents to build the department’s reputation within the school and local community, as well as begin several sustainability initiatives. 

 Since joining URI in late 2018 Pierre has worked to build collegiality between Dining Services and other departments in the school as well as the classified union.  He has opened three new venues (Gertz Café, Brookside Bistro, and FujiSan Sushi at Union Square), brought the Rhody Eatz Food Truck online and reimagined the Rhody Market as a gourmet pizza destination (PizzaXpress).  Pierre continues to encourage his team to try and expand their culinary horizons and that of the student body by exposing them to more world cuisines.